Railway Freight Corridor Gets Rs1,48,528 Cr For Tracks

Railway Tracks gets it’s highest-ever allocation. A capital expenditure of Rs 1,48,528 crore to double 18,000 km of Railway tracks for the year 2018-19.The modi government has decided to work on third and fourth lines in several sectors.

Five thousand kilometres of gauge conversion would augment capacity.This would transform almost the entire network into broad gauge.

According to Mr.Jaitley also 4,000 km of the railway network will be commissioned for electrification for freight corridors.

Freight corridors budget has also made provision for acquisition of 12,000 wagons, 5,160 coaches and approximately 700 locomotives during 2018-19.

Across the world, moving freight by rail is cheaper and greener than sending it by road. But in India costs are amongst the highest in the world.

Indian Railways has been losing market share to road transportation because of inadequate infrastructure and poor services.

Now, the Indian Railways is building two world-class freight corridors that will transform the way goods are transported along India’s busiest routes. By strengthening railway infrastructure, the business and entrepreneurship will also be developed. Thus driving economic development new job will be created.

The dedicated freight-only lines are being built along the Golden Quadrilateral – which connect Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai and Kolkata.

World Bank Support.

The World Bank is financing about 1,200 km of the Eastern Dedicated Freight Corridor (Ludhiana – Kolkata).

The new electrified freight-only railway lines will allow trains to haul higher loads faster, cheaper, and more reliably than before, enabling the railways to make a quantum leap in their operational performance.

The Railways are using state-of-the-art technology and modern management and procurement approaches on a scale that is unprecedented in independent India.

For the first time in the country, rails of a quarter kilometer long are being laid using the latest automatic track laying machines.

The DFC lines are being built for maximum speeds of up to100km/h. Current average commercial freight speed of about 25 km/h.

The lines will also have a carrying capacity of 6,000 to 12,000 gross ton of freight trains.

By freeing the freight from the main lines, it will help boost passenger rail service.

All three World Bank projects under the Eastern Dedicated Freight Corridor (EDFC), amounting to US$2.72 billion are at different stages of implementation.

Watch wheel-less train which was once developed by the developed nations. But this won’t be viable in India. Watch below how it works.

Economic Gains

At present nearly 90 percent of Indian Railway’s freight is dominated by ten bulk commodities. With increase in capacity and a faster and more reliable transit and will attract new markets to rail in higher value.

This will catalyze economic development by driving the establishment of industrial corridors and logistics parks along the route.